Midway through my date with Papillon, I decided to read some background on the person and the prisons in which he had been incarcerated. That might have been a mistake because I now ambivalent about this book.
Let me back up for those who haven't read the book. Charriere was convicted of murder in France and sentenced to hard labor for life. He spent fourteen years in a variety of prisons, always plotting an escape, and succeeding at times. He recalls these years with uncanny detail.
It was those details that made me stop and check. Something didn't seem quite right. How could anyone survive the inhumane living conditions, continued beatings, clandestine deal making and unsavory relationships. ( I won't even mention what I learned about where prisoners stored their small contraband items. Let your imagination run with this one. You're probably right.) It reminded me of the moment I began to question James Frey's account of multiple, Novocain-free root canals, and other nasty dental procedures in A Million Little Pieces. My suspicions were right. He had invented a few details to keep things interesting. I feared that Charriere had done the same.
It was those details that made me stop and check. Something didn't seem quite right. How could anyone survive the inhumane living conditions, continued beatings, clandestine deal making and unsavory relationships. ( I won't even mention what I learned about where prisoners stored their small contraband items. Let your imagination run with this one. You're probably right.) It reminded me of the moment I began to question James Frey's account of multiple, Novocain-free root canals, and other nasty dental procedures in A Million Little Pieces. My suspicions were right. He had invented a few details to keep things interesting. I feared that Charriere had done the same.
Since Charriere's death in 1973, several articles have appeared to debunk the honesty of the writer's account. In fact, one French journalist claims that only about 10% of what was written was real. For example, not all the dates line up with reality, and several of the more colorful passages appear to have their origins in other prison life-escape accounts written decades earlier. Wouldn't you know, the two extended passages that fascinated me most were cited as being derivative.
So, what's true and what's not? Who knows? Prison records do show us that Charriere was born in France, and he was sent to a penal colony in French Guiana. He did escape and....well....read the book and find out.
With that, and much more information at hand, my reaction to the book becomes about perspective. As a fiction book, it doesn't hit the right marks for me. It's wordy, clumsily written (could be due to the translation) and the story ebbs and flows in a less than rubato fashion. Lousy fiction. No traditional story line here - just a free flow of details, lots of double backs, repetition, lack of character development blah blah blah..
If I look at this book as non-fiction (which is hard to do now) I would have to give it a thumbs up. Intriguing details about world I know nothing of. Random encounters with colorful and frightening characters. A narrator with a epic will to survive. Small successes followed by little set-backs - just like us except that we all live nicer, safer, law abiding lives.
Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman starred in the movie version which only covers a fraction of the fourteen years. It's worth watching, though. The book, now that's your call. This was my pick for our up-coming discussion on Friday. I am bracing for a storm. Mea culpa to my book groups buddies.
Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for stopping by.
